It’s no secret that the biotechnology and life sciences industries are among some of the most diverse groups of talent in the world. The biotech and life sciences industries consistently strive to source and promote the best talent with the most innovative ideas, and those ideas can be found in any corner of the globe.
Because of the rich diversity in these spaces, employees at all levels within biotech and life sciences firms must possess cultural competence. The concept of cultural competence is, however, largely untapped, and often forgotten during the recruiting process.
In this article, we’ll discuss the untapped benefits of cultural competence in the workplace, especially for the biotech and life sciences industry.
What is Cultural Competence?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cultural competence is “a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations.” Let’s break this term, “cultural competence” down even further:
When we refer to “culture,” we aren’t referring to the ping pong tables in an office breakroom or the happy hours sponsored by the company. Rather, we’re talking about the interconnectedness and, at the same time, nuanced differences between the environments where employees “originated” before arriving at your firm to work together as a team.
Hence, “culture,” as, again, defined by the CDC, “refers to integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values, and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious, or social groups.” That’s a lot of subparts to understand and be aware of.
“Competence” means the ability to function well within an organization that is diverse and brings many different individuals of different cultural backgrounds together to work toward the same set of goals.
Putting it all together, “cultural competence” is the ability to make sense of the cultures of others and communicate with them, respectively, and effectively, so all parties can operate successfully. As the CDC puts it, to possess cultural competence means that an individual is “aware of one’s own cultural worldview” while “developing cross-cultural skills.”
Why does cultural competence matter in the biotech and life sciences industries?
In diverse industries like biotech and life sciences, cultural competence is critical to the success of your teams. Your team members bring unique perspectives and ideas to the table and may communicate or interact in ways that are unfamiliar to one another. The ability of your employees, especially those in management and supervisory positions, to practice and encourage cultural competence at work can pay dividends for your organization in the long term.
What can hiring individuals with high levels of cultural competence bring to our organization?
It’s impossible to quantify the positive effects of cultural competency within an organization. To start, here are a few of the benefits your company will see after investing in boosting cultural competency:
- A stronger global network of professionals and connections. Your employees, especially in your higher ranks, are your advocates and your gateway to the outside world. Employees from new backgrounds can introduce you to new opportunities, new sources of collaboration, partnership, and investment, and new talent.
- A wellspring of creativity from unique lived experiences. The differences between the members of a team bring fresh ideas. The greater the number and depth of perspectives a team can bring to the table, the more refined their end products will be.
- A better work environment for all employees: Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace will help you continue to recruit and retain the talent that makes your company tick. Did you know that research shows employees are happier and stay longer at companies who place importance on diversity and inclusion in their HR strategies?
- A stronger bottom line. According to a study conducted by the consulting firm McKinsey & Company, companies that are more diverse than their competitors often produce higher profits. The data shows that both gender and ethnic diversity were positively correlated with significantly higher profits in the organizations studied.
How can we foster cultural competence in our organization?
There are many ways you can create and nurture cultural competence at all levels of your organization. Consider the following:
- Form employee resource groups, and encourage members of the ERGs to invite guests to events. This cross-exposure to varying groups within the firm will help unite and connect employees while increasing cultural competence in a setting that isn’t focused on getting a job done.
- Provide frequent and comprehensive sensitivity and diversity training. When was the last time you revisited your diversity and inclusion training? Does it teach employees to be tolerant of other cultures, or does it foster a true, proactive understanding of cultural differences and appreciation for different cultures in the workplace? Your training programs are your primary source of cultural competency education—take advantage of the time your employees spend during those training hours.
- Work with a recruiter who specializes in diverse hiring practices in your industry. While many recruiters promise to help further your diversity and inclusion initiatives, few have the global network to bring you a truly diversity-rich talent base. At Cornerstone Search Group, more than half of the candidates we connect our clients to come from diverse backgrounds. We have a proven track record of matching our clients with individuals who will add fresh perspectives to their firms.
Cornerstone Search Group: Your Experienced Executive Search Firm
Cornerstone can help you tap into a global network of specialized and hard-to-find talent. At Cornerstone, we hold the belief that diverse thoughts, ideas, and leaders drive companies to perform at their highest achievable level. This belief yields positive results for our clients: over 50% of the candidates that we help our clients hire come from diverse backgrounds.
Cornerstone is proud to serve the diversity-rich life sciences industry and has done so for over 20 years. We’re eager to connect you with talent across the world. Start a conversation with us today to learn more.
